Robocath, which designs, develops and commercialises cardiovascular robotic systems for the treatment of vascular diseases, has secured €40 million ($43M) in a series C round of financing. A press release reports that this was led by MicroPort Scientific Corporation, with participation from institutional investors (Zhejiang Silk Road Fund, Luxembourg CLIIF managed under TUS-Holdings, CS Group and Anaxago) as well as existing Robocath investors.
According to the press release, the financial payment of €40M ($43M) will enable the company to aggressively expand its sales and marketing efforts for its first robotic-assisted platform, R-One. It will also allow the company to broaden and accelerate the product development of its second-generation robot to address more PCI procedures and start peripheral and neurovascular applications. On completion of this operation, existing Robocath investors, as well as Philippe Bencteux, chairman and founder of the company, will hold more than two thirds of the company’s capital.
In connection with this investment, Robocath and MicroPort have also signed a strategic agreement to set up a China-based joint-venture company. With over 7,000 global employees, MicroPort has an established expertise in medical devices manufacturing and commercialisation dating back to its founding in 1998 and is a leader in its domestic Chinese market in the cardiovascular field. The company has a full line of stents and balloons products worldwide and generated revenue of $793M (€729.5M) in 2019 (approximately one third from its cardiovascular business). Over the last five years, the company had an average turnover growth of +17%. MicroPort has been listed on the Hong-Kong Stock Exchange Market since September 2010.
Capitalising on this shared expertise and through this joint-venture, Robocath will open the Asian market with the commercialisation of its first robotic-assisted platform. This expansion will be facilitated by local manufacturing of consumables and robot’s assembly to ensure optimal distribution of Robocath products in this market. Both companies will also carry out research and development activities related to next generation long-distance, remote control over 5G network technologies and will develop artificial intelligence algorithms to be used with robotic-assisted platforms.
Alex He, general manager of Medbot (MicroPort’s robotics subsidiary), comments: “We believe that the future growth of medical device therapies will be driven by innovative robotics platform technologies to facilitate procedures and open up next generation capabilities such as remote and AI. We are thrilled to partner with Robocath to commercialise its highly innovative proprietary vascular robotics platform in the Chinese market.”
Lucien Goffart, CEO of Robocath, states: “This financial round gives Robocath the resources to achieve its overall ambitions. MicroPort’s commitment demonstrates the relevance of our value proposition. Thanks to the excellent technological and commercial synergies between our companies, we will accelerate our development and together build a great future in the vascular robotic field. This will benefit patients, physicians and ultimately healthcare systems.”
For this operation, Robocath was advised by MAVIE Technologies and Bionest Partner Finance, fundraising advisors, and Dechert and L2B law offices.
